Latest Jobs

The thin line between love and cheating

If I say I have never been tempted to cheat on my girl, I would be a big liar. I would be an even bigger liar if I say in the past month, not, even in the past week; I haven’t come this close to cheating on her.

Saturday May 31 2014

Advertisement

By Eugene Mugisha

If I say I have never been tempted to cheat on my girl, I would be a big liar. I would be an even bigger liar if I say in the past month, not, even in the past week; I haven’t come this close to cheating on her.

It is not that I am that easily susceptible to cheating, but let us be honest, that person you date doesn’t score full marks in every aspect, and the longer you stay together, the more the cracks become visible. Guys should be given credit, because we are visual creatures, our urges are triggered by sense of sight. If we were as weak as they say we are, we would be cheating nonstop, for there is no shortage of good looking women.

About a month ago, there came this consultant lady. She was on first impressions, all business and seriousness. I wasn’t dealing with her directly, but she was to spend a couple of weeks, and it wasn’t long before we started crossing paths, first, work related, where she needed certain things from me, and later, social.

There was a company cocktail thrown for us by one of our clients. I spotted her standing all by herself, and walked over to keep her some company. That was all I intended it to be, she hardly knew any one, and everyone seemed very busy drinking free cocktails. We made small talk for about 30 minutes, mostly about work. Then, my girlfriend came to pick me up and I had to go. I didn’t give the conversation we had second thought, I didn’t even mention her to my girl. The next day at work, she passed by my office, just to say hello. Then, we had lunch together. Then she dropped in the evening after work for a chat. Then the next day, there was drinks and football, and I cannot recall how it happened exactly, but I invited her to come with us. I was supposed to be meeting up with my girl, but I wanted to spend time with this woman away from my girl’s watchful eye.

So, I called her and told her I was going to watch the match with my friends, would be back home late. She hates football; I knew she would opt not to come. We left work, went for a quick bite with Miss Consultant, and then went to watch the match. I enjoyed the way she hovered around me, taking care of my drinks, touching my arm when she talked. As the evening progressed, things got even more intense.

But all this time, there was this nagging reminder that I had a girl, a girl who loved me, I shouldn’t be behaving like this. There was also the counter-argument that what one doesn’t know doesn’t hurt them. My girl needn’t know about this.

The match ended. The actual cheating was supposed to start then. Miss Consultant was a willing accomplice. But, out of a sudden strange sense of loyalty, honour and I guess self-respect, I found the will to walk away from the consultant, and head home.

Twice, I almost turned back. She had waited for me. She had made dinner, and we ate together, and she treated me like I was the most loving, lovable loyal boyfriend in the whole world. That was one of the few times I felt proud of myself, that I had resisted the so called “male natural inclination to cheat”.